Details of how Britain’s most secretive disinformation unit has been targeting “hostile states” such as China and Russia online have been revealed in a new report.
The National Cyber Force (NCF), staffed by the intelligence services and the Ministry of Defence (MoD), has been carrying out “cyber operations on a daily basis” to not only stop threats to the UK, but also to “further the UK’s foreign policy.”
According to the latest Defence Command Paper (pdf), the NCF has been using covert internet and technology techniques to “sow distrust, decrease morale, and weaken” the abilities of overseas “adversaries.”
That includes disrupting online platforms or messaging services, preventing the publication of extremist material and “countering” foreign state disinformation campaigns….